Crestbearers: Heroes of a Dark World
by puzzlywuzzly
Summary: 0.2 AU. Ken wakes up with no memory to find a vacant city in shambles and monsters running rampant. But when he finds a small group of people like him, can they band together to defeat the monsters once and for all? Slight Kenyako and possible character death.
1. Chapter One: Awakening

I don't own Digimon. I think you knew that already, though. :)

_Hello there! This is officially my first "adventure" Digimon fanfiction (which means its the first time the story is more then drabbles and fluff), not to mention the fact that it's AU, so this seems...slightly ambitious..._

_Well, I hope to develop the plot well enough and finish this, but this is kind of an experimental thing. Though the summary states Ken as the main focus for the story, I will be writing in other character's POV's as well. _

_Well, here goes..._

* * *

**Crestbearers: Heroes of a Dark World  
****Chapter One: Awakening**

He awoke slowly, blinking his eyes open to the grayish gloom around him. He lay very still, feeling as if he had been lying like this for a very long time. After staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment, a thought leapt into his mind.

_Where am I?_

He sat up slowly and stiffly, finding himself sitting on a sagging cot in a small dark room. There were old boxes against the wall overflowing with various dingy objects. On the wall next to him there was what appeared to be a window, all boarded up.

He closed his eyes and tried to recall any memories, causing a searing pain to jolt through him. He put his hands to his head and opened his lips to quietly utter one word,

"Ken."

That was his name, he was sure. But everything else was a mystery.

Sitting up and allowing the pain to subside, Ken shakily set his feet on the cold floor of the room. He was barefoot, and wore a light gray long-sleeved shirt and slightly short pants of the same color.

Ken stood and walked over to the covered window and pulled at a board. Though he still felt weak, the board was loose and came off easily. He was now able to peer out the second-story window and see outside.

What he saw sent icicles down his back. Though he had no specific memories, he was vaguely aware the world was not supposed to look like this.

Buildings were crumbled, cars were smashed into useless pieces, various appliances and furniture were littered everywhere. The sky was dark and clouded over. There were no other living beings in sight.

Ken's heart pounded, and he suddenly felt very alone.

He turned to the only other thing in the room, the old boxes. At the top of one he found a pair of worn-out blue sneakers, which he pulled on. Old shoes seemed better then no shoes.

He began to dig deeper through the items. Junk, an empty canteen, a porcelain rabbit, junk, a small box with strange symbols on it…

Suddenly a large crash rattled the building. Ken dropped the small box and looked up, alert. The building continued to shake, less violently then before, accompanied by a steady thumping noise. Like something was coming closer.

Ken flew to his feet, his body tensing. The random thoughts rushing through his mind vanished to be replaced by a firm decision: He needed to get out of here.

Not daring to wait another second, Ken flung open the door to the room, which led to a bleak hallway. He stopped short in front of a gaping hole, shivering to think he could've fallen. Navigating around it, he turned and rushed down the left corridor, hoping to get as far away from whatever was shaking the complex.

Unfortunately, he soon came to the end of the hallway. He stood staring at the large window at the dead end. What could he do?

He didn't have much time to decide. Loud thumping and short, gruff breathing caused Ken to whirl around.

He eyes grew wide with terror as the large creature lumbered towards him, maybe twice as big as a washing machine he'd seen outside. He didn't have much time to process what exactly it was, but from what he saw it was covered in matted fur and had fangs and gleaming red eyes.

Barely comprehending what he was doing, Ken turned again and frantically tugged the window open. He grabbed the sill and threw both legs out just as the creature reached where he had been standing.

It stuck its ape-like head out the window and let out a thunderous roar, but Ken had already let go of the sill.

By the time his brain finally caught up to what was going on, he was lying painfully on the ground, heaps of twisted metal and other various objects around him.

He panted heavily as he stared up at the building. Then he closed his eyes to assess the situation.

He had practically jumped out of a second-story window without a second thought. The monster was luckily nowhere in sight, but his ankle was throbbing. And now he was alone in a vast and broken city.

Wincing at the pain, Ken sat up and eyed his right foot. It didn't appear to be bent too strangely. Perhaps it was just sprained.

There was something very wrong about all of this. He knew, deep down, that he shouldn't be alone. There had to be others like him out here.

The most favorable option was to get away from this place. The monster could be trying to find him right now.

Ken gritted his teeth and stood. He surveyed the wreckage grimly, faintly wondering what this place looked like before.

Without looking back, he took his first step into the gloom, beginning a long and arduous trek that would lead to friendship, sorrow, and a greater trial then he could have ever anticipated.

* * *

Hikari stood on the roof of the half-crumbled building, gazing out onto the bleak landscape where a few skyscrapers still stood. Another day was ending, and there was still no sign of him. The sixth Chosen one.

She promised herself she wouldn't give up hope. He had to be out there somewhere.

_Maybe Miyako will have found him. She should be back soon, _Hikari thought.

She knew it was unrealistic for her to wish for so much, but she had to keep faith for the other's sake. For Takeru.

"Hikari, please come back to camp."

Hikari glanced down to see a small figure standing there looking up at her.

"All right, Iori," Hikari sighed, and started to climb down.

"I don't think Gennai was wrong," the boy said to her once she was on the ground. Wisdom far beyond his years glinted in his green eyes.

"I hope your right," Hikari replied, shaking her head. The boy always seemed to know what she was thinking about. "We could sure use a miracle right now."

* * *

_Thanks for reading, I hope it wasn't a total waste of your time... The next chapter should be a little longer and introduce some other characters a little better. _

_~P.W. _


	2. Chapter Two: The Chosen Ones

_Chapter Two is here! Ken finds his way to the camp, but will they trust him? Much will be explained and two new characters will be introduced. _

_Hope you enjoy..._

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**Chapter Two: The Chosen Ones**

Ken had been traveling for hours. The soles of his shoes were worn through and his walk became more of a stumble. Soon it would be dark. He clung to the hope of finding some sort of civilization in this vast place, or at least somewhere monster-free to rest for the night.

When the world began swimming before his eyes, he finally realized he couldn't go any farther and collapsed in exhaustion.

"Iori! Look!"

He just barely registered the exuberant female cry before the world around him became completely black.

* * *

"He hasn't stirred at all since last night. Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Eh, he'll be fine. It's not like he's gonna go back into a coma."

"Hikari, did you tell Takeru? Did he see him?"

"Um, no…I was going to wait until we have evidence that he's one of us…"

"_Evidence?_ He's a human and he found his way here without dying. What more evidence could there be?"

"Well, it makes sense to be wary of him. After all, we don't know exactly where he's come from."

"Cut him some slack, Iori. He hasn't even woken up yet!"

At first the conversation of the three voices were part of a dream to Ken. He was standing in the hallway facing the ape-like monster, which sat without moving. When it opened its large mouth, the voices came out.

"Seen any sign of Miyako?" the monster asked itself.

"None yet. But she'll probably be back today," it answered in a more feminine voice.

The dream started to fade, and Ken blearily blinked his eyes open to find that the voices in his dream had been real.

"He's awake," said a young boy standing nearby, looking straight at Ken with wide green eyes.

"W-where am I?" Ken croaked. His mouth felt dry and his head was spinning.

A girl knelt next to Ken. She had short brown hair, brown eyes, and a warm, comforting smile.

"It's all right, you're safe. This is our camp. There're no monsters here."

The girl's presence made Ken relax. These people didn't seem like enemies. Maybe they were like him, and had woken up not remembering anything at all.

"I'm Hikari," she continued. "Boys, say hello."

"I'm Iori," said the young boy, still standing. "Hikari and I found you last night outside."

Ken tried to sit up, even though every part of him felt achy and sore. But now that he really looked around, he realized they weren't in a room at all but more of a tent, lit by small lamps.

"Don't forget about me, Daisuke," called a boy sitting on a cot on the far side of the room. "I'm the one who convinced them not to behead you, after all!"

"Daisuke, we don't behead," Iori said with a frown.

'Not trusting him is close enough."

"Excuse Daisuke, he gets a little argumentative sitting in here all day," Hikari explained to Ken.

"A broken ankle will do that to you," Daisuke pouted. "And on top of that, Miyako had to take over scouting! That's my job!"

"Would you prefer Takeru take over instead?" Iori asked.

For some reason, that shut him up. The boy on the cot crossed his arms and spoke no more.

Hikari gave Ken an apologetic glance. "And what did you say your name was…?"

"Oh. I'm Ken," he answered. His voice was so out-of-practice that it was hard to know what tone to use.

"Nice to meet you, Ken," Hikari answered.

"Ask him, Hikari," Iori urged softly, sitting next to the girl.

Hikari nodded at him slightly. "Ken, can you tell us about where you came from?"

Ken thought for a moment. "Well, I woke up in an abandoned building that didn't seem familiar to me at all. I couldn't remember anything…then a large monster started chasing me so I jumped out the window. Then I started walking."

Ken looked at Hikari and Iori, who sat in silence for a moment. He was sort of expecting them to burst out into laughter and make fun of his ridiculous story.

But Hikari faced him with a serious expression.

"While you were in the building, did you find anything…a chain with a tag, a message addressed to you…?" Hikari asked, looking at him with searching eyes. It was clear she very much wanted him to say yes.

Ken probed his mind for anything like that. "Um…no. Not that I remember."

Hikari's face fell. "Oh. Nothing like this?" She reached down the collar of her shirt and pulled out a chain with a tarnished tag on the end of it.

Ken shook his head. Hikari looked to Iori.

"I don't know what to think," Iori said. "If he's a Chosen one like us he should have something…"

"Like you? What do you mean?" Ken piped up.

Hikari faced him, and she began hesitantly, "We're Chosen ones. As far as I know, there are only six of us left. Daisuke, Iori, you, myself, and two others." Hikari eyes grew sad as she said these things. "We were chosen to face the monsters destroying earth."

Ken noticed she included him in the list, even though he didn't have one of those necklaces. She really did believe he was one of them.

"So did you all wake up not knowing what was going on, like me?" Ken asked.

Iori nodded, but Hikari hesitated.

"Most of us have no memory of what our life was like before," Iori answered. He looked at Hikari. "But a few of us remember the battles before this one."

The young boy spoke so gravely that Ken decided it was better not to ask for details. But he could tell Hikari had faced more then the other two boys.

"Can we talk about something pleasant, like, what are we going to eat for breakfast?" Daisuke piped up after a moment of quiet.

Hikari sighed. "All right, Daisuke. I'll go look through storage."

Silence among the boys followed her departure. Ken stared down at his ankle which had been wrapped with bandages.

These people had helped him. Surely he could trust them. He just hoped that they would trust _him._

* * *

"Takeru, I need to talk to you about something," Hikari began gently, stepping into the storage tent.

"It's about the newcomer isn't it. I've seen him, Hikari." Takeru stood with his back facing her.

"Well, I think we should trust him," Hikari said, taking a few steps closer.

"Does he have a crest?"

"Well, no…but I think in his hurry to escape the monster he just didn't have time to find it."

"Hikari, look," Takeru sighed, turning around to face her at last. "I know you want to believe that the monsters can be beaten. We've tried and failed. My brother died because of that. _Your _brother died."

The dark circles under the boy's eyes were a testament to the many sleepless nights he had spent contemplating it all.

"I…I know. I haven't forgotten," Hikari answered calmly, struggling to keep her composure. "But the others—"

"You've convinced them to not give up hope. But what hope is there, really? Our numbers are even smaller then they were the first time."

"But if we stand together, that won't matter. As Chosen ones, we have the power to defeat them, Takeru. You can't forget that."

Takeru sighed and looked to the ground. "Look, you don't have to kick out the new guy. Just be warned it's another mouth to feed. But…we're not going to fight. I'm done."

He walked deeper into the tent before Hikari could say anything to stop him. She bit her lip to stop the tears from coming, and went to go get Daisuke his breakfast.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it despite the lack of action...the next chapter should be more exciting, as well as introduce Miyako. So what do you think of it so far? Possibly interesting? Horrible failure? Whatever you thought, thanks for taking the time to read! :)


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